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Senator demands for a probe into Elon Musk’s Saudi investment in Twitter

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) is calling for a national security probe of Elon Musk’s buyout of Twitter and the approximately $2 billion in Saudi funding for the transaction.

Murphy requested that the Committee on Foreign Involvement in the United States (CFIUS) investigate Saudi investment in Twitter in a statement issued on Monday. Musk’s $44 billion agreement includes billions in foreign capital from Saudi Arabia and Chinese investors. Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Company and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s private office claimed to be Twitter’s “second largest investors,” with a combined stake of $1.89 billion.

“We should be concerned about the Saudis, who have a clear interest in restricting political expression and influencing US politics,” Murphy stated in a tweet on Monday.

CFIUS seldom comments on ongoing investigations, but the Treasury Department-led interagency group is under increasing pressure to assess the deal. The American Economic Liberties Project also requested CFIUS and the Federal Communications Commission to investigate Musk’s overseas investments in Twitter and his Starlink broadband venture on Friday.

“Elon Musk’s potential reliance on the Chinese government is concerning, and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, as should the Federal Communications Commission, given Musk’s control of Starlink’s satellite internet service,” AELP executive director Sarah Miller said in a statement Friday.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has spent billions of dollars in publicly traded firms in the United States in recent years. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Saudis have invested around $7.5 billion in American companies such as Amazon and Google this year.

“If this purchase goes through, China (TikTok) and Saudi Arabia (Twitter) would own, in whole or in part, two of the most major US social media platforms,” Murphy remarked on Twitter Monday. “This is a hazardous trend that we do not need to tolerate.”